Sambalpur: Purported delay in lifting of rice by the Food Corporation of India (FCI), the central government agency for public distribution and procurement of foodgrains in India, has been affecting the procurement process, angry farmers have alleged. They have demanded the Union food and public distribution department to immediately issue a final order allowing the FCI to lift the rice from the farmers here.
“Thousands of rice shelled in the Kharif season is piling up in the mills waiting to be lifted by the FCI. Every year, rice lifting started in December. However, the FCI has been delaying it this year,” the farmers stated.
This has added to the woes of the farmers who are already dealing with debt burdens and crop losses. On the other hand, millers of Western Odisha have been suffering huge losses because of the delay.
“Usually vitamin rice is added to the normal rice. But, there has been no supply of vitamin rice this year that is leading to the delay in the lifting of the rice,” the supply department clarified.
Odisha has three vitamin rice plants i.e. IP rice Industries, Sambalpur, Lalita Rice Mils Pvt Ltd in Sonepur and Kanheya Agro in Kalahandi. These plants produce vitamin rice that is mixed with the normal rice before lifting. However, the shape of the vitamin rice produced this year was different from the normal rice.
When mixed with normal rice, it can be easily distinguished. So, the FCI had rejected to lift the rice.
Later, after a few months, the plants managed to produce the vitamin rice with the same shape as the normal rice. Now, the rice has been provided to millers who are mixing it with normal rice. So, there has been a delay.
“This Kharif season at least 29,62,800 quintal paddy was procured. So, we hope to produce more than 20 lakh quintal rice. By February and March first week, FCI has only collected 1, 20,000 quintal rice. By now more than 3 lakh quintal rice were supposed to be collected like previous years. If this delay continues, the FCI can only collect 12 lakh quintal rice and at least 8 lakh quintal rice will not be lifted. This will affect the farmers and the millers’ big time,” State Mills Owners’ Association President Mahesh Bansal said.
“The shape of the vitamin rice earlier did not match with the normal rice. So, there was a delay in the lifting. Now, we are speeding up the work,” District Chief Supply Officer Ramchandra Tudu said.